Second Chance
by Orne
Summary: Cole gets another chance, takes place after Centenial Charmed
1. Default Chapter

Well guys, I know you're gonna totally hate for me for starting a new fic without finishing the other...20 thousand I have uncompleted, but I guess this is my way to cope with the loss of Cole. I have to say, I'm utterly dissapointed the writers couldn't keep him, but, well...I guess that's life... L

This fic takes place after "Centennial Charmed", in which Cole dies, but with the magic of fics, he doesn't die. He lives on to become and avatar (granted, I don't know very well what that is, but...if anybody has a clear idea, can you pleaseeeeee tell me?? Pleaseeeee!). It takes place a rather long 6 months after Cole "dies". Piper had her baby and it was in fact a boy, Paige is still single as is Phoebe....

Hope you guys like it!

Cole pulled up to his New York penthouse, he parked his car and fiddled with his suitcase while he got in elevator. He looked at his watch, another loooooonnngggg night at the office, the uh...avatar office actually...

It was weird that he was still on this earth, he had gotten so many chances, and he had blown them all except this one. It seemed it had all worked out the moment he left San Francisco, it had all worked out when he left Phoebe. It took him a long time to realize he had destroyed his life countless times just to be with her and destroyed hers as well...

The elevator opened and he quickly undid his tie as he set his briefcase on the table. It had been 6 months since he had "died". The avatars took him in, and brought him back and made him one of the best avatars ever. He thanked god everyday he had gotten his second chance, even if it was without Phoebe

It wasn't really that bad, he was so busy with work that he really didn't have time for woman. It seemed almost weird, he had always been a lady's man, but now...Cole was pulled out of his train of thought by a familiar voice, he turned around and smiled.

"how many times have I told you about sneaking up on me like that?" he asked the man.

The man merely smiled, "I'm sorry Cole, you know how sneaky we are" he said, Cole chuckled and smiled, "so, Mike, what've you got for me today? Another mission?" he asked as he took off his coat. Mike smiled and nodded, "I think you might just like this mission..." he said, he gave him some papers and Cole took them. He read them carefully and his heart plummeted. "I don't want to do it..." he said throwing the papers on the table.

Mike grabbed the papers and looked at Cole, "Cole, you don't have a say in this..." he explained. Cole looked at him angrily, "yes I do!! I won't go back there!!" he screamed, "I've tried so hard Mike, I can't be in the same city as her, it kills me to be near her, why do you think I moved here in the first place?" he barked. Mike sighed and put a hand on his shoulder, "You won't have to see her" he explained, "look, you're the best one we've got who's not on duty, I can't do anything for you..." Mike explained.

"Mike, please.. don't do this to me..." he begged, "I finally got my life back, without her...being in the same city, having to know I might run into her..." he said, on the verge of tears. Mike looked at him and smiled, "Cole...you're gonna have to do it sometime" he explained, "she's a charmed one, we're gonna have to work for or with them sometime..." he said, "wait...I have to work with them?" he asked alarmed. Mike nodded, "no" he said, "not this time, the mission is on the paper" he said, "we already got you an apartment in San Francisco, all you have to do is get this over with and come back here" he said, "it's a fast thing..." Mike continued, trying to chide him into doing his job.

Cole breathed a sigh of defeat and nodded, "fine..." he said, "let me get my stuff together..." he said as he turned away from Mike and disappeared into his room. Mike sighed, he didn't want to set this up, Cole was his best Friend, but he knew that the only way to get him there was if he told him he didn't have to work with the charmed ones, even if he did.....

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Phoebe, Paige and Piper walked into the manor, tired, hurt and extremely touchy. "well, I could've done something if you had moved out of the way!" Paige screamed at Piper. "well, I'm sorry, I was trying to freeze the thing!" she screamed. Phoebe sighed and looked at her sisters, "would you please be quiet, Parker is asleep..." she said as she made her way up the stairs.

"Phoebe!! We have to talk about this!!!" Paige screamed, "tomorrow, I'm tired, I'm defeated, we'll look through the book tomorrow..."Phoebe said as she walked up to her room. She closed the door and slithered into her pajamas and then skidded under the covers, she was so tired, so...drained...

And to make matters worse, she had to work tomorrow. She looked up at the ceiling, and sighed, when had living become so difficult? She used to enjoy this and now, it was a burden to her, it was so hard just to stand up straight. To look somebody in the eyes without showing the small wrinkles that had developed around her face, or without showing the emotional distress inside of her.

6 months everything was fine, it was bad, but it was better. She still carried around the burden of having killed Cole, she didn't actually want to do it. She had loved him, and then she had to kill him, and they didn't even get closure...

She sighed and turned on her side. For some reason she hated being in this house, in this room, she felt uncomfortable around her sisters, she no longer liked her job, it was like everything went out the window when she killed Cole. It didn't happen like that the last time she had killed him, because last time he came back, and this time...he didn't...he was actually dead...

She pushed her thoughts out of her head, she had to get up early tomorrow. Early enough not to run into any of her sisters, she rolled over and quickly fell asleep, and in no time, her alarm clock was buzzing crazily. She turned it off and quickly took a shower, got dressed and sped out the door. She would get coffee on the way....

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cole rolled over in the oversized bed in the oversize apartment the avatars had given him for his stay. He knew he had to do this quick, for his own sanity. He had studied the case thoroughly last night. A demon by the name of Aklar had found a way out of the underworld and was wreaking havoc all over, and as and Avatar, Cole had to preserve the order between good and evil, and this evil was definitely not supposed to be there...

He got up and grabbed his files, he took a quick shower, shaved and put on a pair of jeans and black v-neck sweater. He grabbed the keys and walked down to the coffee shop around the corner, he couldn't possibly ever run into anybody there, this was completely across town, completely away from Phoebe...so he thought....

He entered the coffee shop and ordered a tall mocha latte and sat down on one of those overly small coffee tables. It seemed like everything was either to small or to big, including his coffee...

He looked up slightly and caught a glimpse of a young woman, that looked exactly like Phoebe, only...different...He looked at her more intently, and it was her!!! No...he thought, it couldn't be, she seemed older...

He was debating whether or not this woman was her or not, and the only thing he could come up with was running...

He quickly got up and fled toward the door, and accidentally bumped into the woman on his way out, and when she turned to him, he knew it was her, and she was staring at him like she couldn't believe it, and somehow, fate had made them run each other...yet again...


	2. shocked and scared

Hey guys, another chapter, this fic has got me on a role, I'm soooo sorry I haven't updated the others, I will, I promise, just when I get all the ideas out of my head for this one, lol. Anyway, the next one will be up soon so don't fret! Hope you guys like!

Phoebe hadn't felt that spark in a long time, nor had she felt so unbelievably delusional. How could that be Cole? Cole was dead...She had killed Cole, that couldn't be Cole, yet the man in front of her had Cole's eyes and Cole's nose and Cole's lips and Cole's body...it was Cole...

"excuse me" he said politely. He knew she had recognized him, but she was so shocked. "I'm sorry, I was...I didn't see you" he said again, not wanting to leave. He knew that if he saw her again, he wouldn't be able to leave, he knew this was going to happen. "It's ok..." she said uneasily, still not knowing if her mind was playing tricks on her. She looked up at him, wanting to touch him juts to make sure this wasn't a figment of her imagination

"Cole?" she asked. He nodded a slight affirmation and looked at her, "yeah" he said. He wanted so much to leave. To run back to safe New York where she wasn't going to be around. She was more dangerous then all the muggers in that city. "I...I...I thought...I...you died..." she said in a whisper. She was almost afraid of saying it. He nodded another affirmation. What had happened to her? She seemed older, like she was defeated...

"I came back...." he said shyly, "they brought me back" he said. There were so many emotions inside of him, so many feelings that were resurfaced, so much madness. He had never meant to get the way he had last time, but not having her drove him crazy, literally. He was crazy when he was near her, he hated her and loved her and lusted and yearned for her.

She looked at him, a little out of it still. "who brought you back?" she asked. "The uh...the avatars..." he said. He looked down at the floor, just so he wouldn't have to look at her. "No..." she said nodding, "no...you can't...I killed you..." she said. Cole nodded and he hated her even more. Throwing that in his face, as if it were something she were proud of. And all of the reasons of why he had left this city came back, and why he had stayed away from her, and of why he hated her so much.

"I have to go" he said, he bumped into another person on his way out, but fluttered past them in a frenzy, trying to get as far away from her as possible. He walked quickly down the street holding his papers nervously. He looked like a frightened little boy...or girl...

Probably a girl, he thought. He rushed into his apartment and threw the papers on the table. He leaned against the door of the apartment, and tried to breathe, but all he could breathe was her smell, the way she looked at him, he was losing his sanity again...

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Phoebe watched him scurry out of the coffee shop, and ran out the door. She watched him walk quickly rather then run away from the coffee house, down the street, away from her. Why was Cole running? Cole never ran...Cole used to be dead...she thought. And soon enough he was gone as quickly as he came. She wanted to die, she didn't even get a glimpse of where he was staying or what he was doing or...anything. 

She really needed to get out of that street. She got in her car and called her office, telling them that she would be working from home. She arrived at the manor, her face pale and inexpressive, still in shock. And her state was obvious to her sisters, they watched her come in the kitchen compelled and worried.

"Phoebe?" Piper asked, leading her to the table and sitting her down. "honey, you're shaking" she said, "Paige..." Piper said, Paige nodded and brought her a cup of tea. "Phoebe, what happened?" Paige asked concerned. Phoebe looked at the two and nodded in disbelief. "I was at the coffee house and he was there too..." she said. Piper looked at Paige, "honey...who was there?" Piper asked, "oh! Was it that monster thingy from last night?" Paige asked. Piper slapped her arm to which Paige winced and shrugged.

"no.." Phoebe said. "he's back...he can't be back Piper, can he? Am I going crazy? I killed him.." she said, tears welling up in her eyes. Piper looked at Paige and they knew what it was about. The only man Phoebe had ever killed was Cole, and that explained exactly why she was acting like this.

"Phoebe...he is dead, he can't be back..." Piper said. Phoebe nodded, "but he is...he was in that coffee place, and he was there just drinking his giant Mocha latte" she said, tears falling down her eyes. Paige was watching the whole spectacle, still not believing it, after all they had done, he was back? Again? "no!" she screamed, "he can't be back Phoebe, we killed him, you killed him, it couldn't have been him! You're not seeing well!" she screamed.

Phoebe watched her sister go crazy, she knew it was a shock to her, of all people. She despised Cole. "Paige..." Piper said, "it's true Piper" Phoebe said, "he talked to me, and he said the avatars brought him back, and he's an avatar..." Phoebe said, swallowing, she had a huge knot in her throat. 

Piper looked at her. "ok, there has got to be a way for this..." she said, before the crying of her baby made her lose contact with her sisters. "I'm gonna go get Parker.." she said, as she exited the room. Leaving the two remaining sisters in shock in the living room, Paige broke the silence "LEO?!???!!!!" she screamed, Phoebe jumped quite a bit, and looked around as Leo orbed in.

They finished telling Leo everything, and as shocked as he was, he orbed up there to find out if it was true. As soon as Leo left, Piper came down with baby Parker in her arms, who was now 4 months old, and the pride and joy of the whole Halliwell family. "we told Leo to find out..." Paige said, still stunned. Piper nodded and sat down in front of her sisters, almost as shocked as they were, because let's face it, Cole ALWAYS found a way to come back....

Leo orbed back in nodded, "it's all true..." he said, "Cole was brought back by the avatars and as an avatar has been living in New York for the past 6 months" he explained. "he's in San Francisco to help us..." he explained. Phoebe looked at him in disbelief. "no, that can't be, why didn't he say anything to me about helping us?" she asked, "he just ran away like a little girl..." she said rubbing her temples, this was all to much to take...

"well, he has to be here for a reason..." Piper said, "maybe it has something to do with that thing we were fighting" she continued. "maybe that's what he's here for..." she said. Phoebe nodded again, "no, no, no, no....he can't, if he was then why'd he run?" she asked. Leo grabbed Phoebe, Piper and touched Paige, "there's only one way to find out..." he said, as he orbed them.

When they reappeared, they were standing in front of Cole who was sitting at a table at a luxurious penthouse, much like the one he had before, reading some papers. When he turned around, he almost fell off his chair, he began backing away from them, pointing his finger at them, "no, no!" he screamed, "stay away from me..." he said, he looked almost scared, "stay away!!" he screamed, "you! Especially you!" he said pointing at Phoebe, "get out of here!" he yelled, he was actually scared of Phoebe...


	3. Death wishes and Broken hearts

DUDE!! ANOTHER ONE!!! WOW!!! (lol), anyways, I will explain in this chapter why Cole is "afraid" of Phoebe, and maybe a lot of dialogue, not much action (of any kind, you dirty people!), hope you guys like it, and thank you all for the reviews, it only encourages me to keep on writing, thanks!!! 

Phoebe stood from a distance, clutching Paige's arm, not really understanding Cole's behavior. He wasn't like that, he was a confident man, a cocky man. He jumped at any opportunity of looking superior, and now, he was almost crying...

Paige watched Cole, Phoebe's hand was carving into her arm, but she wasn't gonna call her on it, she was to busy being shocked by Cole's behavior. She didn't understand it, Cole was actually afraid of Phoebe? Was it possible that Phoebe had gained some sort of new power that they didn't know of? No...Phoebe would speak up about something like that, she thought.

Piper looked at Cole and then down at Parker, who was asleep in her arms. Maybe he was afraid of the baby. Parker was quite powerful. And he was always alert when evil was around, except this time, he wasn't...so that had to mean that Cole wasn't evil, or Parker was losing his touch...

Leo watched all of the girls, as they just sat back and watched Cole's reaction. Granted, he was as surprised as they were, but they couldn't just stand there and watch the man they had once called a friend wig out like that. Leo took a step forward with a deep breathe "Cole...it's ok, we're not here to hurt you" he said quietly. This made Cole even more nervous and he pointed a quivering hand at Phoebe. "make her stay away..." he said.

Leo nodded and stepped forward grabbing Cole's arm. Cole let it rest at his side and looked at Leo. "why are you here?" he asked them. Leo looked at Cole and then at the girls, "cause you're here..." he said. "you can't vanquish me!" Cole screamed, "I can't...get her out, she's making me crazy.." he said to Leo. Leo looked at Cole and put a hand on his shoulder. "Cole, it's alright, we're not here to do anything to you..." he said, "the elders told me that you were her to help us.." he explained.

Cole looked at Leo and then at the girls, his eyes glued on Phoebe, who shifted uncomfortably under his stare. "I'm not here to help you.." he said silently, still looking at Phoebe. It was like the mere sight of her made him go crazy, it made him lose all his senses. It had taken him so much to get his life back on track without her. And now, it was 6 months down the drain. All his efforts didn't count for anything, because Phoebe was right in front of him, looking at him, and he just wanted to ravish her.

"you're not?" Paige said, "great, then we can go, have a nice life.." she said as she began to walk to the door but Phoebe grabbed her arm. "why would they tell us you're here to help when you're not?" she asked Cole. To which he responded with a simple nod "I don't know, they sent me here on a mission about some demon, big snaky thorny bad demon.." he explained. Piper immediately jumped in, "we fought him!" she said, clutching Parker to her chest. 

Cole noticed the baby and smiled, "is that..?" he said looking at Leo. Leo nodded proudly, and Cole smiled, "good..." he said. He was happy for them. "well, either way, I'm not here for you guys" he said, "It took to long to...I wouldn't JUST come back" he said to Phoebe. "don't flatter yourself.." he said to her. She winced as if it were a slap, but it was, it was big low blow...

"ok...so, are you sure, cause if you're here for the same demon that we were fighting, then...maybe..." Piper said. "No..." Cole said. He couldn't help them, he would get caught up and...all he could do was stare at Phoebe. Phoebe's eyes, and her neck, and that more then sutil cleavage, those legs, the way her skirt fell softly around her thighs... "Cole.." he heard. It was Piper...

"look.." he said, giving them a piece of paper, "that's the demon I came to suppress, they never told me anything about helping you, I planned on not even running into you, what the hell were you doing at a coffee house across town from your work and your house?" he asked Phoebe. Phoebe just looked uneasily at him, "they have good scones..." she said softly.

Cole held back a chuckle, and continued to look at her, and then at Piper who was nodding, "yeah, this is him...how do we kill him?" she asked. "potions and a good slayage.." he said. "what potions?" Piper asked, "I'm not sure...they didn't give me...oh...of course..." he said, it all came together. They didn't give him the potions cause he had to find that out with the charmed ones, a fact that Mike left out very conveniently, he was gonna kick his ass so bad...

"ok..." he said, "so I have the slayage, you have the potions, where do we start?" he asked grabbing his files. Paige looked at him and then at her sisters, "wait, wait, he's not just gonna help us, is he?" she asked, "he tried to turn you evil, what if this is a plan to get her back?" Paige asked Piper, Piper was about to say something when Phoebe quickly jumped in, "I'm right here you know? Jesus, you people have been ignoring me since we got here..." she said angrily. "oh, Phoebe, don't start.." Paige said, "well, Paige! You have!! I'm standing right next to you and..." she began, but then looked at Cole, who seemed to be a little taken aback by their argument

"look, let's just get this over with..." she said. After a few minutes of glancing at each other, as if they were strangers, they shimmered and orbed respectively into the manor attic. Cole looked around, it was strange to be back here. It looked exactly like it did when he left, it smelled the same, it felt the same, because it felt like home...

"ok, Piper, Paige and Leo..." Phoebe said, breaking Cole's train of thought, "take the book downstairs and check out some potions, I'll stay here with Cole and check his files and see what we can find..." she said. Paige immediately jumped in, a bit distressed, "I'm not leaving you here with him" she said. Phoebe nodded and shooed her out of the attic, "nothing's gonna happen, the guy hates me.." she said as she shut the door. She turned around and was staring directly at Cole, who wasn't smiling, he seemed a bit tense...

"I don't hate you" he said quietly, as he set down the files on the table. "don't you?" she asked, "NO" he said quickly. "then what the hell is wrong with you?" she asked, "I don't have to tell you what's wrong with me..." he said eyeing his files, although he wasn't really paying attention to them.

"Fine..." she said sitting at the table angrily and grabbing his files. "is this what they gave you?" she asked. Cole sat down next to her and nodded, "I know it looks like a lot, but..." he said. "no, it's enough.." she said quietly. She began reading them, as she felt Cole's stare rest on her image, it was...comforting...

"how have you been?" he asked, "good...ok...dealing..." she said nodding. "are you having a tough time with your sisters?" he asked, "cause at my apartment it seemed you and Paige.." he began, Phoebe nodded with a chuckle, "yeah...we haven't been getting along very well..." she said rubbing her temples. "sometimes I even regret killing you..." she said looking into his eyes.

Cole stared at her, the comment completely caught her off guard. "I don't..." he said quickly, "you did what you had to do, you helped me move on, I have a whole new life, a new job.." he began, but Phoebe cut him off, "a new wife?" she asked, "no.." Cole chuckled, "you're still the only one..." he said.

Phoebe smiled and was about to go in for a kiss, something she knew she HAD to do, or else she'd die, but Cole leaned away. "no..." he said, "please, no...I can't...you said it yourself when you killed me, this wasn't meant to be..." he said somberly. Phoebe looked at him, and nodded, "yeah, maybe you're right but I still...I can't help but think that if you were here, things were different, I'd be happy Cole, I'd want to live..." she said. Cole looked at her surprised, and was about to say something when her sisters stepped in the attic.

He sat up straight and cleared his throat, still looking at Phoebe. "ok, we have potions and salt and all sorts of wiccan goodies..." Paige said setting them all on the table. "yeah, yeah...good..." he said getting up. "ok, lets' go.." he said. He needed to get out of there, it seemed stuffy and suffocating and, he just needed out...

Phoebe nodded as she looked at Cole. She knew her comment caught him off guard, it caught her off guard too...she hadn't realized how bad a time she was having until she looked into Cole's deep blue eyes, and she realized that all her good times were in those eyes, nothing ever worked without those eyes....but now, she couldn't let herself get sucked into those eyes, she had a demon to kill and a broken heart to mend...Cole's...


End file.
